Affordability and Competition: Challenges for NJ Business

Steve Kalafer, Chairman of Flemington Car and Truck Country Family of Brands & The Somerset Patriots Baseball Club, sits down with Steve Adubato to discuss some challenges New Jersey businesses are facing including affordability and competitiveness. Kalafer shares his thoughts on how new leadership in Trenton will impact these concerns.

4/7/18 #208

Excerpt:

"Welcome to State of Affairs. I'm Steve Adubato. We are coming to you from the Agnes Varis NJTV Studio in Brick City, Newark, New Jersey. We welcome back... it's been a while, well we're glad we have him back. He is Steve Kalafer, Chairman of Flemington Car & Truck Country Family of Brands and of the great Somerset Patriots baseball club. Good to see you. Nice to see you. By the way, let everyone know, the Somerset Patriots play in Somerset! [laughter] The Patriots play at TD Bank Ballpark, opening April 27th. The winningest team in the history of the Atlantic League. Do you still have our friend Sparky connected to you? Sparky Lyle? Sparky Lyle is the only manager emeritus in baseball. Great. When I said, "Sparky you're gonna be emeritus," he says, "What's that?" I said, "Really what you want to know is, how much does it pay?" [laughter] So it'll work out. And by the way, Steve is... we share something else, he's a great Yankee fan, and he's been at all the important Yankee events. I see you right there. They're a great team. Let's hope for a great season. Let's move from schmoozing about baseball to talking about policy. I say the Trump tax plan and its impact on business, you say? Good. And let me tell you why it's good. There is corporate America, and there's entrepreneurial America. Entrepreneurial America are another form of corporations. Without entrepreneurs, nothing happens. My concern for the state of New Jersey is that there is this fog of now this outmigration that everybody's talking about. Well it's happening. It happened before the Trump tax... Meaning losing people? Losing... What kind of people are we losing? And what's their income level? You're losing high income people. Period. An example of myself. I'm a maximum taxpayer, happy to do it, prideful to do it, but this state... and it's not Republican or Democrat. Not that. This state treats entrepreneurs with contempt. They collect money, they expect to get it the day after tomorrow and the tomorrow after that day. And what we have to put up with... regulations, I've got projects going all over the state of New Jersey, but they're coming to a close. To invest in the state of New Jersey today, not Republican or Democrat, is simply too risky. We're broke as a state. We want to get money. Hmm. We want to live for today and it just doesn't work. Now we're doing this right before Governor Murphy actually delivers his budget address... By the way, great guy, great family. I know the governor..."